Food by Kostow? Drinks by Meehan? It’s SFO’s newest lounge

The wine wall and a self-serve wine dispenser are among the amenities at the new Centurion Lounge at SFO. (Photo: American Express)

The airline clubs at SFO have not typically scored high on road warriors’ lists. True, the airport has evolved into a major business hub, but all the yoga rooms in the world won’t make up for what frequent travelers often view as their tiny Chardonnay-stocked island of serenity amid the chaos — and SFO’s lounges have lagged behind global hubs like London or New York.

That’s set to change Thursday when American Express debuts its fourth Centurion Lounge in the U.S., part of a bid to boost the company’s original focus as a key service for travelers. The San Francisco location joins those in Dallas, Las Vegas and at New York’s LaGuardia. Miami is next.

As Kimberly Litt, an American Express public affairs manager, put it: “We heard from our card members that they wanted something better.”

Unlike lounges run by airlines, the Centurion is for Amex cardholders — and is particularly intended to fill a gap for Platinum cardholders, who have lost access to American’s Admirals Clubs and the United Clubs in recent years.

This latest addition tapped serious star talent to turn its complementary food and drinks into a Bay Area showcase.

The menu? That’d be from none other than Christopher Kostow of the Restaurant at Meadowood, with items like slow-roasted pork shoulder with apple lees vinegar and fennel, and pumpkin cooked in goat-milk butter.

The lounge is open all day, so Kostow’s debut menu includes breakfast as well: Danish rye with sturgeon rillettes or whipped butter; yogurt with St. Helena olive oil.

Tables and the open kitchen designed by Meadowood’s Christopher Kostow at the new Centurion Lounge at SFO. (Photo: American Express)

It is, per Kostow, not meant to reflect a Meadowood experience so much as a finessed take, with a nod toward his new book, “A New Napa Cuisine,” on what travelers typically want: comforting, straightforward dishes that outpace the food court below.

And comforting for a diversity of travelers, which is something not often seen amid the oceans of oatmeal and bagels at most domestic lounges; breakfast includes steamed rice with a furikake seasoning of Mendocino seaweed and green tea.

To service the lounge, Kostow hired a staff of six, including one of his former colleagues from Campton Place, and insisted on an open-kitchen design.

“I want that guy who walks in at 10:50 (p.m.) to be blown away by beautiful food,” he told me during a walkthrough earlier this week.

Wine walls and more
As for drinks, the wine wall that visitors encounter when walking up the entry stairs is the first clue. An all-Napa roster was selected by Anthony Giglio of Food & Wine magazine, with a hand from the Napa Valley Vintners. They are served in the sort of self-service wine dispensers found at wine bars, with at least 18 selections from wineries like Farella and Mira. It’s not an ideal snapshot of California’s current strengths (someone might be getting a call from Sonoma) but it outpaces typical club offerings by about 15 wines.

Also, cocktails: Amex tapped Jim Meehan of famed New York bar PDT, who consults for the Centurion lounges. Meehan in turn looked to the Bay Area’s culture and local booze for inspiration.

His gin basil fizz uses St. George Botanivore Gin, while the Stone Fence harnesses Osocalis brandy from Santa Cruz. There is, yes, a Frisco; it combines Anchor’s Old Potrero whiskey with Benedictine, which at least matches a serious drink to a contentious moniker.

The remainder of the 8,200-square-foot lounge has a nattily designed set of amenities, including wall displays with vintage luggage: wifi, chaises for a nap, a private shower. In addition to the usual work pods, there’s a communal single-slab wooden work table that wouldn’t look out of place at Four Barrel. Also, crucially, a glass-walled family room for kids, complete with toys and game system.

Before you head out for an evening of cocktails: The club is located inside Terminal 3 after security, readily accessible to United passengers and those flying from the G gates of the international terminal. Passengers in other terminals will have to clear security again after visiting.

As with other Centurion clubs, it’s open to any American Express cardholder — free to those with Centurion (black) and Platinum cards, $50 a visit otherwise.